how'll you take your eggs sugah?¿

4 am.
the alarm sounds, i get up, get dressed

4:20 am.
raw egg with some salt, banana, brush my teeth

4:27 am.
-en route to truck
while walking down the path i kick something soft but weighty. i turn on my flashlight, there on the side of the path is a big frog. since i already ate i'm not in the mood for frog legs

4:30 am.
go to the truck, wake up the kids to head out

5:15 am.
arrive at the field. divvy out machetes to the kids, the boss, myself. head into the the sugar cane

8 am...ish
take a short break, water, sandwiches. head back to the cane.

8:30 am.
the truck arrives. we load all the cane we've chopped for the past few hours onto the truck. no easy feat, including a wobbly ladder and little tiny spiny deals poking into your skin and clothes.

9:30 am.
the truck leaves. resumption of cutting. by now i'm switching between my left and right hands, the blisters have broken but the nice thing about calouses is that there isn't as much blood. thick skin, a learned and excellent commodity.

12:30 pm.
another break. watermelon this time. "you think we have more than the last truck?" yeah, we have way more say the boys. "well, lets take a break until the truck gets he-" just then the truck's horn sounds OUNN OUNN
long break. back to loading the cane. more of the wobbly ladder. the sun's higher in the sky, there's no more clouds to hide from the deafening rays.

1:30 pm.
with the truck loaded, the cane tied, and the giant spare tire lifted on top we head back to the bosses truck. pile inside and out back and head back to the ranch.

2:00 pm.
stop at a restaurant. the boss treats us to fried chicken lunch, very nice.

2:45 pm.
arrive at the ranch, having dropped off all the pequeños at their various places, walk to my house, get a shower and a shave. apply cologne to my hands, nice and torn up, now they sting, but smell really nice.

3:15 pm.
go to the church, just a few minutes late for mass.

5:30 pm.
head to the school where the boys are staying the night because of fumagation.

6 pm.
check my voicemail. scott's broken up with rotem.

7 pm.
dinner gets served: eggs, platano, avacado.

8 pm.
talk to the night watchmen, talk to gabriel, find out one of the kids has taken a retreat for the evening. i offer my services to look for him, but gabriel sends me back to the video and the rest of our boys.

8:30 pm.
i remember scott's phone number and we talk till my money runs out on my phone.

9:15 pm.
scott calls me back, we talk and share stories for a while. it was good for both of us. he's gonna be just fine, it just takes time, and that's always the hardest part.

10:20 pm.
i return to my house, put my sheets on my bed, lay down and fall asleep.

sunday
8:20 am.
i wake up. go to the kitchen, dori and emily are starting to bake cakes. i cut up some potatoes and make myself homefries, sunny-side down eggs, and a cup of coffee. "wow, you went all out for breakfast" emily and dori say. sometimes, you just need to have a good breakfast